As already known, in the fourth quarter will begin to appear budget laptops, nettops and convertible laptops based on the new single-chip assembly of Intel - SoC, code-named Gemini Lake. The solution is to replace the 14-nm assemblies of Apollo Lake, officially introduced in the spring of 2016. This class of solutions, as previously reported in Intel, is designed to minimize the cost of components for the assembly of compact budget systems. For example, SoC data allow to simplify the design
of motherboards to 6 layers of wiring and reduce the thickness of the boards to 1 mm and even more. In this regard, Gemini Lake has become more integrated, for the first time having built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controller, as well as a modem for cellular with ligament (in the scheme it is the CNVi unit, Connectivity Integration Architecture).

Some time ago we reported that Gemini Lake assemblies will receive more progressive video decoding blocks, although the video core will remain the 9th generation Gen9LP (as in Skylake / Kaby Lake) and will consist of 18 EU execution units. Instead of 8-bit VP9 (Profile 0) and HEVC, 10-bit codecs VP9 (Profile 2) and HEVC will be part of Gemini Lake. HDMI interface change the version of HDMI 1.4 to HDMI 2.0. This will mean that the 4K video will work with a 60-Hz sweep, and not with 30-Hz,
as in the previous generation. In addition, the port (standard) eDP 1.4 will be supported.

The computational x86-core cores of Gemini Lake processors (code name of architecture - Goldmont Plus) received certain improvements in comparison with Apollo Lake cores and Goldmont architecture. So, instead of 3-wide pipelines with simultaneous selection of three instructions, the new architecture received 4-wide pipelines and allows processing 4 instructions at the same time. This improvement can increase productivity by 10-15% without increasing the clock frequency. Also, the cache size
of the second level, which is now 4 MB, is doubled.

The memory controller built into SoC Gemini Lake is a two-channel solution with support for mobile memory LPDDR3-1866 MHz or LPDDR4-2400 MHz. In the presence of interfaces PCI Express 2.0, SATA 6 Gb / s, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, as well as eMMC 5.1, although the interesting UFS interface for working with flash memory by Intel is still ignored. The USB 3.1 port and USB Type-C connector support are also missing, although this platform should charge the batteries and support power through the UCB Type-C
port.

Finally, SoC Gemini Lake received a modified GMM speech recognition unit. This concerns the support of DNN (Dynamic Neural Networks), which is implemented, for example, in the algorithm of Microsoft Cortana.

DETAILS ABOUT THE BUDGET SOC INTEL GEMINI LAKE

POSTER: computer news || THE COST OF BATTERIES FOR LAPTOPS WILL GROW BY 20 PERCENTS

DATE:2017-08-15

Since 2016, lithium prices have already risen by 60%, and it is unlikely that current market trends will contribute to reducing the price of battery cells in the next few years.

In September, as market participants expect, the cost of rechargeable batteries for laptops will grow by 10-20%. It is not so important what type of batteries laptops use: expensive both lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries. The Chinese authorities have tightened the rules for the extraction of cobalt, which is needed to produce batteries, so raw materials are becoming more expensive in all directions. Manufacturers of laptops have already suffered from a lack of displays, solid-state and operational memory, and now the situation is further exacerbated by the more expensive batteries.

THE COST OF BATTERIES FOR LAPTOPS WILL GROW BY 20 PERCENTS

We still have to study market price pricing with reference to Radeon RX Vega, and colleagues from Bits & Chips website made a "confession" on the topic . As explained by the source, at the first stages of preparation for the announcement of Radeon RX Vega 64 was associated with the price tag "$ 399", and Radeon RX Vega 56 was planned to be given for $ 299.

The same resource picked up the idea of the hidden potential of video cards of the Radeon RX Vega family. There is an opinion that many functions are disabled in the current version of the drivers, and as soon as the developers can apply them, the speed of the new generation of video cards will increase. It's not a fact, of course, that the main advantages will be revealed in games.

VIDEO CARD RADEON RX VEGA 64 COULD COST 100 DOLLAR CHEAPER

POSTER: computer news || TSMC WILL INCREASE THE OUTPUT OF 12-NM NVIDIA PRODUCTS BY THE END OF THE YEAR

DATE:2017-08-15

The use of memory type HBM2 by all the relevant flagship graphics processors has led to the fact that the main infringers of commercial secrets of their developers in this season are the memory manufacturers. For example, it cost Samsung to admit that it increases in the second half the volume of HBM2 memory chips release , as we first learned by our own channels that it is Samsung that supplies AMD with memory for Vega graphics processors, and then the NVIDIA head admitted that at the stage of preparation for the announcement Accelerators of calculations Volta to cooperate it was necessary with Samsung.

As it turns out, TSMC is also able to share information that gives an idea of the future plans of NVIDIA. DigiTimes website with reference to the publication in the Chinese edition of Commercial Times reported that in the fourth quarter volumes of 12-nm products will be increased using FinFET. Chinese sources explained that it will be based on the 12-nm process technology that will be used to produce NVIDIA Volta graphics processors and Xavier processors. However, such a correspondence has not been a secret for a long time, and only information on TSMC's intentions to increase the output volume of profile products of NVIDIA is important here. The head of the last of the company last week assured that Volta's accelerators are available in bulk quantities.

With such a schedule for increasing the production volume , new items may appear on the market not earlier than the beginning of 2018.